On Tour

Going back to my high school days growing up in Iowa, I specifically remember the first time I heard Phish. I was with a group of friends (guys I am still in touch with today) riding around on a hot summer day on our way to what had become almost a daily sand volleyball session. A buddy popped in the Picture of Nectar CD and told us we were in for a real musical treat. Some band from the East with a simple but oddly spelled name.

Truly integrating two disparate musical genres into a third doesn’t occur all that often. And when it does, it’s often lopsided in favor of one genre – over another. It’s unbalanced, and noticeably so. But when an organic musical marriage does happen, it can be like dynamite. Happily, such is the case for Asheville, North Carolina’s Toubab Krewe.

On Friday June 12, at around 9:25 I walked into Ashkenaz on San Pablo Ave, in Berkeley, to the sounds of the Dead Guise playing their opening set of acoustic Grateful Dead covers, in a style similar to the Grateful Dead’s early 80’s acoustic albums Reckoning and Dead Set.

Festival season started early this year. Well, early for Colorado. Last Saturday TheDisco Biscuits and a cavalcade of friends and like-minded musicians brought the ruckus to Red Rocks Amphitheater for an all-night non-stop mini-festival of epic proportions. If that sounds like an overstatement, perhaps it is. Although technically not a festival – the word is honestly a little big for what went down – being outside and seeing no fewer than seven bands

Spring is in the air, and its time to get outside. The outdoor music scene is just starting to kick in to high gear. If you’re anything like me, your calendar is filling up fast with festival dates, bar-b-ques, and all manner of fun-in-the-sun distractions. You’ve already called in sick to about half the summer work hours, and now you’re praying you don’t run into the boss down at the park this afternoon.

They weren't the biggest band back in the late 60's and 70's, yet Grand Funk Railroad did meet their prime with top singles such as "We're an American Band" and "I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home." Forty years later the band still comes through town on the occasional tour, but as Saturday's concert at Elitch Gardens showed, the Grand Funk's train appears to be coming to a halt.

Are you a fan of Delta Blues, Rock, or Jam? Do you have an affinity for Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and a good live show? If by now you haven’t heard of the North Mississippi All-Stars, please emerge from your cave this instant.

You might still think this was 1973.I did for a second, as I watched the tie-dye clad Deadheads trekking through wheat-colored fields, on a pilgrimage to Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View on Sunday evening to catch the band now known as The Dead.

Keepers of the flame. Revivers of the vibe. The ultimate players in the game of cover band glory.—Whatever title you pin on Dark Star Orchestra, doesn’t nearly encapsulate their dedication, precision and drive. Getting everything right, even the simple sounds of instrumental tuning, is something that they take very seriously.